


ashes scattered on the breeze at dawn

by orphan_account



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Cindered Shadows DLC Spoilers, Hurt/Comfort between two arguably emotionally stunted characters, Spoilers, see also: every three houses support
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-17
Updated: 2020-02-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:00:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22763614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Byleth avoids the Abyss for a full week after meeting the Ashen Wolves. Against his better judgement, Yuri goes looking for her.-Contains heavy spoilers for the Cindered Shadows DLC.
Relationships: Yuris Leclair | Yuri Leclerc/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 16
Kudos: 368





	ashes scattered on the breeze at dawn

Professor Byleth hadn’t come back since Aelfric’s killing. 

Seven days had passed in total - not that Yuri was counting, per say - but how was he supposed to ignore her when her students were still poking their noses around? First came Claude, two days after the incident in the Holy Mausoleum, asking all sorts of questions whilst acting generally shady. Then, shortly after, Edelgard visited with quick words of consolation. She didn’t stay long. Dimitri finally showed up yesterday, with similar sentiments, but then he got a strange look in his eye. 

“Has the Professor returned?” He asked, glancing down at his boots. 

Yuri frowned. “No.” He folded his arms across his chest, leaning back against the gateway. “Why? Has she been asking about me?” He continued, with a teasing lilt to his voice that had Dimitri straightening his posture in defiance. 

The prince’s face hardened, but he didn’t lash out or speak out of turn. “No, that’s not it.” He seemed calm, but Yuri could read between the lines. The younger man sounded oddly prickly about the suggestion in Yuri’s tone. “She’s had a hard few weeks. Last moon, her father was murdered, and now all of this with Aelfric and her mother… I fear it may have been too much to bear. She mentioned wanting to speak with you sometime about an important matter, but it doesn’t look like she’s had the time.” 

And so, the following day, Yuri found himself navigating the sprawling courtyards of Garreg Mach Monastery via rooftop, under the cover of night. He knew the overground well; being the self-proclaimed crime lord of the Abyss meant he had to know every corner of his turf, on every level, and he’d ran a stake-out on the new professor when she was first employed by Rhea. He knew her quarters, and how to reach them undetected- knew the guards, even, and their patrol routines, their blindspots. 

In all seriousness, he didn’t know why he wanted to see Professor Byleth so badly. He just knew he had to. 

The closest entrance into Abyss to Byleth’s quarters were currently being watched by the sauna keeper, who was also stationed to deter any students looking for a midnight rendezvous. Yuri was right to take the long way around. He walked quickly but quietly, all too aware that the professor’s living space was directly next to the commoner dormitories- it would look bad if an unfamiliar man was caught slinking around the students’ bedrooms. 

When he reached her quarters, her bedside curtains were open and the room was empty. So he continued on, cursing quietly under his breath, before searching down by the greenhouse and the lakeside, winding his way through the campus at ground level. 

Eventually he thought to come by the graveyard, and there he found the professor. 

She was sitting by a headstone, so still that Yuri had to shake away the urge to check her pulse and breathing. He didn’t mask his footsteps as he approached, coming to sit beside her on the grass. 

“Hey.” He offered a half-smile in greeting. “Long time, no see.” 

Byleth stiffened. “Yuri.” She acknowledged, glancing over him. “Didn’t expect to find you here. What troubles you?” 

Yuri fought back an eye-roll, knocking his shoulder into her lightly. “ _ I _ came to check on  _ you,  _ not the other way around. Don’t misunderstand me.” He turned to the headstone, squinting to decipher the inscription- for all his years spent in the dim of Abyss, his eyesight wasn’t any better for it- but still, he managed: SITRI EISNER & JERALT EISNER. He sagged a little at the thought of her sitting here all evening, as the sun set and the stars flickered against the sky. “Jokes aside, I-I’m sorry for your loss, Professor Byleth. Truly, I am.”

The professor took a moment to process his words. She sighed deeply, glancing down at her hands folded in her lap. “Thank you, Yuri.” She murmured. “I’m sorry for your loss, too.” 

“You shouldn’t be.” Yuri frowned. “I knew about Aelfric’s true nature the whole time.”

Sitting in silence with another person was a rare occurrence for Yuri, given his boisterous companions and their love of talking, but it was nice albeit melancholy to sit under the stars with the professor. They both eventually laid back in the grass, staring up at the sky. 

“I found out my age last month.” The professor confessed after a while. “I’m twenty-one. My father never told me. I knew I was somewhere around that age, but it’s still an odd thought. I have a birthday.” 

Yuri stifled a laugh. “How strange, fathers keeping secrets like that from their daughters. Not knowing your age… you’re certainly an unusual case.”

“I bet he had his reasons.” Byleth insisted. 

“You know, I’m twenty, and I couldn’t even begin to imagine leading a class full of noble kids who are barely younger than me.” Yuri mused, turning on his side to get a good look at the professor. She was quite broad at the shoulders, and well-muscled, but also on the shorter side. It was a charming mix, small but sturdy, and he’d already had a first-hand taste of her strength during their first meeting, when she’d disarmed and restrained him quite expertly. 

“That reminds me,” the professor sat up with a start, looking down at him with the ghost of a smile tugging at her lips. It was a nice change from the blank look they often lapsed into. “I’d like to formally extend an invitation to yourself and your friends to enroll at Garreg Mach and join my class. I’ve discussed the finer details with Archbishop Rhea and she’s approved my plan. Only if you want to, of course. I don’t want to dredge up any bad memories.”

Yuri had thus far led a life that made it difficult to render him speechless, but as he lay back in the grass, staring up at the professor, his mind drew a complete blank. “I… I don’t know what to say.” He admitted, sounding a little sheepish. He pushed himself up, sitting cross-legged. “I came up here to comfort you, and there you go offering me what could be a ticket to a better life. I still have my people to attend to-”

“Take some time to think about it.” The professor interrupted. “It doesn’t have to get in the way of running Abyss. I’m a considerate professor. Just come to whatever lectures you can manage and I’ll keep you updated on the material and training programmes you miss.” 

Yuri smiled, pushing down the voice at the back of his head that chastised him for his open sincerity. “Thank you, Professor. I appreciate it. I’m sure Constance will be thrilled.” 

“Anytime, Yuri. And please, call me Byleth.” 

They shook hands in the graveyard and smiled demurely at one another, in a fashion that was so unlike most of Yuri’s whirlwind, one-off romances. It caught him completely off-guard, leaving him with a fluttering in his chest that he didn’t quite know what to do with. And to think, mere days prior he was leaning down and whispering innuendos in her ear, cryptically asking for her cooperation in a plan that could have ended with his death, if she misunderstood him, or ignored his request for a “date”. He almost flushed just thinking about it. 

By the time they both started yawning and stretching, finding the grass almost comfortable enough to nap in, the sun began to peek slowly over the horizon. Begrudgingly, Yuri pushed himself up to his feet and offered a hand out to Byleth. “I best be on my way.” He said, not bothering to mask the disappointment in his voice. “The Abyss doesn’t run itself, after all. I’ll get back to you by tomorrow on your offer, and should you ever need me you know where to find me.” He held one of her hands in both of his, cradling it as if she were delicate and fragile, like he hadn’t seen her wielding godlike power in the form of glowing sword to take down an unspeakable evil. “You need not suffer alone, Byleth.” 

“Thank you, Yuri.” Byleth smiled, stretching out after he pulled her to her feet. “Hopefully I’ll see you in class on Monday?” 

“Perhaps.” He grinned wolfishly, finding some of his shameless charm once again. “If you’re that desperate to see me.” 

She laughed, clear and bright against the morning breeze, and for the first time in years Yuri felt as if his heart was fit to burst. 

**Author's Note:**

> i already love yuri so much and also need a lot more of yuri/byleth hurt/comfort regarding the honestly traumatic experience of byleth meeting their mother for the first time in the form of watching her pristine corpse fuse with the body of a mad man and turning into an eldritch nightmare??? like what the fuck fire emblem???????
> 
> short but sweet, kudos and comments are appreciated :) xox


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